News – Page 434 – Ranson Financial Group LLC

Near tragedy guides Kansas firefighter to make fire trucks

info2024-06-04T12:34:44-05:00June 4th, 2024|

Making things is a passion of Greg Blanchat. But instead of making art, he makes fire trucks. Blanchat turned a near tragedy into a passion to save lives. "When you suit up when you snap in, you really feel it. Like I say, 'Fire is a living, breathing thing,' and I really think it can think too," said Blanchat. Roaring flames and billowing smoke were seen from miles around. "We were up on a hill, most of us watching it and looking down on it, and we backed up because it was incredibly hot," said Stan May, a spectator and retired [...]

The ‘only architect in Liberal’ finds his entrepreneurial spirit

info2024-06-04T12:32:21-05:00June 4th, 2024|

Tucked into southwestern Kansas stands the city of Liberal, a majority-Latino community where more residents speak Spanish than English. Many work at the nearby National Beef Packing Co., a common job for rural Kansans – including immigrant workers. Manuel Ortuño moved to Liberal from Chicago in pursuit of a lower cost of living. He quickly found a job at National Beef, which provided a good living but was extremely labor intensive. His son, Edgar, says that his father started building cabinets in his garage and taking night classes outside of his factory shift. Eventually, he found a carpentry job building displays [...]

Peabody plans repertory theater

info2024-06-04T12:30:35-05:00June 4th, 2024|

Christopher King, co-owner of CK Vintage in downtown Peabody, has a long background in performance. He started as an actor, then gravitated to director. He has been working with other Sunflower Repertory organizers for months getting things ready for the magic of a dinner theater in Peabody. The first production will be “I Do! I Do!” The show is a comedic look at the ups and downs of marriage. Source: Marion County RECORD

Solar farming is taking land once used to grow food. Researchers are looking for ways to do both

info2024-06-04T12:28:11-05:00June 4th, 2024|

When Scott Thellman looks at the bottom land near the Kaw River, he sees productive farmland. This area north of Lawrence, Kansas, just across the river from an old coal-fired power plant has fantastic soil, according to Thellman, who lives nearby and grows organic vegetables and row crops. “It’s absolutely the best our county, and frankly our region, has in terms of the water accessibility, the mineral glacial components of the soil,” Thellman said. “Plants are really able to thrive here.” It also makes a good place to locate a solar farm. It’s flat, with easy access to roads and high [...]

Rural roads get millions for upgrades

info2024-06-04T12:20:37-05:00June 4th, 2024|

Ten Kansas counties stand to receive millions in federal funds to improve the safety and efficiency of local roads. Gov. Laura Kelly on Thursday announced the $6.65 million in federal funds for 10 projects, selected out of 46 applications. Haskell, Linn, Ottawa, Phillips, Sedgwick, Seward and Shawnee counties have all been granted federal dollars for these rural road improvement projects. “Our rural roads are important to the local and state economy,” Kelly said. “Programs like this enable commerce to flow smoothly and improve safety for Kansas families as they travel our state.” Project funding is managed through the Kansas Department of [...]

Kansas communities receiving grants for street projects

info2024-06-04T12:19:25-05:00June 4th, 2024|

The funding, as part of the Safe Streets for All program, is combined with more than $1 million in matching funds from the Kansas Infrastructure Hub and Build Kansas Fund toward two of the projects and local matching dollars. “Leveraging federal dollars to supplement our state and local investments into critical infrastructure is vital to economic growth,” Governor Laura Kelly said. “The Safe Streets and Roads for All program ensures that our communities have the resources to build, operate, or maintain critical infrastructure. I appreciate the Legislature's continued support of this initiative as it is a true bipartisan win for Kansas.” [...]

City says its making progress on recovering from recent Wichita cyberattack

info2024-06-04T12:16:51-05:00June 4th, 2024|

It’s been almost a month since hackers got into the city’s computers, shutting down many of its operations along with stealing the personal data of some residents. The city says it has made good progress on recovering, but there’s still a long way to go. "Fortunately for me, all of my bills are included in my rent. And so I'm just grateful that I don't have to go through that," said resident Alizah Hatcher. Hatcher is one of the few Wichita residents who hasn’t been affected by the recent cyberattack, but she says everyone around her is. "It's amazing the work [...]

County manager warns JoCo’s 5-year budget forecast ‘not sustainable’

info2024-06-04T12:14:06-05:00June 4th, 2024|

County commissioners begin their first budget meetings with department heads Thursday as they consider a quarter-mill decrease in the county’s property tax rate along with a sobering assessment by County Manager Penny Postoak Ferguson that revenues will not keep up with expenses over the longer term. “We’ve got to really prepare ourselves in the coming budgets,” Postoak Ferguson told commissioners as she outlined her proposed budget last week. During that presentation, she said current trends in housing valuations and tax revenues will continue to put pressure on the county’s property tax rate, or mill levy. Source: Johnson County Post

Low water levels at Cheney Reservoir could mean mandatory water restrictions

info2024-06-04T12:12:55-05:00June 4th, 2024|

As the City of Wichita waits for crews to finalize the latest water level readings at the Cheney Reservoir, we could be just around the corner from mandatory water restrictions. "Makes you think. Kind of eye-opening. Like, really? We could experience that?" This was the reaction from many residents like Katie Bickell Monday after seeing the latest images of Cheney Lake and learning that Wichita is extremely close to doing something it hasn't done in more than ten years – forcing people to start saving water. "Honestly mind-blowing. Because you hear about like, water restrictions and other places, but never really [...]

Like cities around it, Mission weighs new restrictions on AirBnbs

info2024-06-04T12:10:50-05:00June 4th, 2024|

Another Johnson County city is considering stricter regulations for AirBnbs and Vrbos. The Mission City Council during a mid-May work session expressed support for two separate ordinances — one specific to short-term rentals and a second one about nuisance parties — dealing with such properties. No formal action was taken by the city council. If such ordinances are adopted by the city council, then Mission will join the growing list of Johnson County cities that are tightening short-term rental restrictions. So far in 2024, the cities of Fairway, Merriam and Shawnee have all taken formal action that dictates how AirBnbs and Vrbos can operate in city [...]